RWBY 8 7 - Fighting the Fire
by Darkpenn
Summary: Blake reveals a dark streak, Yang reveals a secret, and an incredible shot hits the target


**Fighting the Fire**

 _Blake reveals a dark streak, Yang reveals a secret,  
and an incredible shot hits the target_

 _[Author's Note: This story follows the story_ Move and Counter-move _, and is the seventh episode of Volume 8.]_

The entrance of the cave came into sight. Adam Taurus gave a sigh of relief. Why were these things always in such difficult places?

He glanced at the little shrine. A faunus would have said a prayer.

He did not.

RWBY

Blake landed the airship in the grounds of Shade Academy. Everything was quiet.

They disembarked and looked around.

"It's a nice garden," said Yang. "But no Ochre."

Blake sniffed. "Can you smell that?" she said.

"No, nothing. But I don't have a cat nose."

"I've smelled it before. At Patch. Sulphur. It leads this way." She started to run towards the Academy.

"Nora said that the relic vault was the basement," said Yang, following.

They burst into the basement.

Salem was standing at the far end. She was holding an elderly man in front of her. He was a shield against Ochre, standing near the doorway.

Doctor Arthur Watts was there, next to Salem.

"Hullo!" he said, when he saw Yang and Blake. "Say, have you seen my pocketwatch?"

"Yes, but I doubt you will be getting it back," said Yang, as she and Blake readied their weapons.

"What a shame. Anyway, allow me to introduce Doctor Emmanuel Sweep, Principal of Shade Academy," he said. "This fellow here. I suppose I should say that if any of you make a move against us, he dies. Actually, it's all pretty clear, isn't it?"

Salem was holding a blade to Sweep's throat. It was cutting into his flesh; there was a trickle of blood.

"Ochre, destroy both of these creatures," said Sweep.

"She will do nothing of the sort," said Salem. "Cinder would. Raven would. That aging bitch Faber certainly would. But not you, Ochre. You, unlike the other Maidens, have a heart and a conscience."

"And you also have something else," said Watts, gesturing at a battered wooden box on a table next to him. "The key to this. It's right there, in your pocket. Yes, we know that the relic is inside. It's the only thing that can explain the burst of creative energy seen in this otherwise benighted little province."

Ochre was silent.

"Give them nothing," rasped Sweep.

The blade cut deeper. Sweep gave a grimace of pain.

"If I give it to you, you let him go, right now," said Ochre.

"Of course," said Watts. "We have no particular interest in him. He's just a means to obtain what we want."

Slowly, Ochre took the key from her pocket.

"You throw me the key, and we throw you your friend," said Watts.

Ochre threw the key to Watts.

In a single movement, Salem slashed Sweep's throat, and threw him at Ochre, Yang and Blake.

Watts handed the key to Salem as she picked up the box. He took a bottle from his pocket and threw it down. Immediately, the basement was full of purple smoke. But even through the smoke Yang could see the glow of a portal forming.

Ochre laid Sweep's bleeding form down, and raised her hand. There was a hurricane wind, and the smoke was swept away.

Salem was stepping through the portal. Yang fired, and a bullet hit Salem in the shoulder. She gave a grunt of pain.

Watts began to run for the portal, but Yang leaped forward and tackled him, bringing him down with a crash.

Ochre threw a blast of energy at Salem but she managed to conjure a shield against it.

The portal began to close.

Salem unleashed a wave of energy that threw Ochre, Yang and Blake back. Watts struggled to his feet but he was too far from the portal to make it.

"Goodbye, Arthur," said Salem as the portal closed.

He ran for the door, drawing weapons from his coat.

"Go!" said Ochre, as she leaned over Sweep, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Outside the basement, the corridor split into two. Yang and Blake each chose one.

Yang rounded a corner … and then a blast of energy hit her.

There was a sudden burst of pain, and she went down. She cried out in agony.

Watts stared down at her. He held up an odd-looking gun. "Ah," he said. "Do you know what this weapon does? One of the things, anyway. It reduces Aura, by a significant amount. But that's not why you are in such pain. I would say that you are suffering from what I call the Sorcery Shakes. That's my diagnosis, and I'm a doctor. It happens when a person experiences a conflict between technology and magic. Don't worry, I know how to stop the pain. Of course, it entails you dying." He changed the setting on the weapon and pointed it at her.

There was a shout. Blake smashed into him, sending him down. His gun went skidding across the floor.

He managed to get to his knees, but Blake was behind him now. Gambol Shroud snaked around his neck. It began to tighten.

He tried to pull the cord away but Blake was not going to let go.

"Please," he rasped. "I … I … can give you … whatever you want – "

"The problem with that," said Blake, "is that there is nothing I want from you. Except for you to die. Slowly."

She continued to tighten the cord.

"Blake," said Yang, still on the floor. "This … this is not what we do."

"Maybe it's not what _you_ do," said Blake. "But I am not you, my sweet."

Watts gave a final, gasping convulsion. He breathed his last.

Blake unwound the cord from his neck. Then she helped Yang to her feet.

"That was cold," said Yang.

"I know," said Blake. "And now I think there is something you have to tell me about."

And so Yang told her. Everything.

After that, they returned to the basement.

Ochre had managed to stop the bleeding. Sweep was alive, but only just. There was a makeshift bandage around his neck.

"She didn't need to do that," said Ochre. "They had the box and the key. Even though the relic will not be much use to her without the others."

"She did it," said Yang, "because she likes to kill. To hurt. She needs no other reason."

Yang's scroll buzzed. Nora.

Yang listened for a few moments. She signed off.

"There is a battle about to start, aiming to kick the Grimm off Sanus," she said.

"Salem has what she wants, so she won't come back here," said Ochre. "So let's go."

RWBY

The combined force of Hunters and Vacuo soldiers charged onto the plain, firing. Darius turned towards them, staring. Watching. Not moving.

Nora, at the head of the troops, was counting. Three, four, five … _Stay still just a little longer_ , she thought desperately. Seven, eight … she imagined she could hear the whistle of May's bullet through the air.

And then the head of Darius exploded.

"One for the history books," said Nebula, running beside Nora.

"I will have to apologise for whacking her at the tournament," said Nora.

A moment later, they were in the midst of the Grimm. Without their leader the creatures had no strategy or organisation, but they turned to attack – and there were many of them. Very many. Beringels, Beowolfs, Ursas, Deathstalkers. And now Nevermores and Gryphons were sweeping in.

"Forward!" shouted Nora, as she swung her hammer and took out a trio of Beringels. She fired a volley of grenades into the throng, but even more Grimm were appearing.

Nora looked up – and saw a Nevermore screaming towards her.

And then a burst of heavy bullets, and a rocket, hit it. It disintegrated.

An airship was coming in, firing. Nora could see Blake at the controls. The side door opened, and Yang and Ochre jumped out. Even before she hit the ground, Ochre was firing blasts of energy, taking down a half-dozen Grimm with each shot. She landed, and came striding forward. She created a storm of razor-edged hailstones, pounding the creatures.

Yang added her fire, and Blake continued to engage the flying Grimm from the airship. Gryphons were attacking it but she was managing to fend them off.

"Give them everything!" shouted Nora to the Hunters and the soldiers. They did – all that they had.

Ochre was in the middle of the Grimm pack now, and an expanding ball of fire came out of her.

"Down!" shouted Nora. Everyone dived for cover. A wave of burning heat washed over them.

Then it was over, and the plain was covered in ashes. The Hunters began to dust the Grimm that had survived Ochre's energy blast, and the soldiers began to throw grenades and explosives into the pits. They began to collapse in on themselves, sinking into the depths. The soldiers gave a ragged cheer.

Two Nevermores were left, both of them wounded. They began to fly away, heading out to sea. Nora raised her weapon to fire at them but Yang stopped her. "No," she said. "We need to see where they going. Get a bearing on their direction."

"I can do that," said May, appearing beside them. She took a compass from her pocket, and a notebook, and began to scribble figures.

The airship landed, and Blake joined the group of Hunters. "Outstanding," she said to Ochre.

"I am just a gardener," said Ochre. "You are the one that Ilia loved, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Blake. "And part of me has always regretted that I could not return that love."

Ochre nodded. "She understood," she said. "She taught me to read, you know."

May handed Yang several pages of figures and diagrams torn from her notebook. "That's their line of travel," she said. "If it helps you."

Yang looked at the pages. "I think it will," she said.

END (to be continued – next story: _A Blade, Most Bloody_ )


End file.
